Garden macro photography: tips for shooting stunning pictures at home

Tips for increasing the quality of your macro photos

Get up early
There are many reasons to shoot macro early in the day. It’s cooler, so insects are less active, making them easier to approach; there’s often little or no wind, so you can shoot at slower shutter speeds/lower ISOs; and the light is much softer and warmer.

Use a polariser
When shooting reflective or wet foliage, use a polarising filter to add punch and fully saturate the colours by reducing the glare. A polariser will reduce the exposure by around two stops though, so you’ll need to use a tripod when working at slow shutter speeds.

Maximise sharpness
To maximise sharp focus across your subject, position the back of the camera so that it’s parallel to the most important part of the subject – eg, the wing of a butterfly or dragonfly – thereby keeping it in the same plane of focus.

Vary your aperture
Use the Depth of Field Preview button or Live View to check how much of the subject and background are in focus at the aperture setting you’re using. Take the same shot using different apertures and then choose the most pleasing later.